Solar LEDs can make city Delhi safe at night: Report

NEW DELHI: There are more than 700 dark spots in Delhi Of these, 177 are in the outer district, followed by 98 in the west and 56 in northeast. Even New Delhi has as many as 23 dark spots, reveals a report prepared by Greenpeace, in collaboration with National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), a think tank.

It says Delhi, which faces the problem of dark spots, is using a technology that consumes more energy . It further says solar LED streetlights can electrify the dark spots at a much lower cost, which is estimated to be less than Rs 10 crore.

The report, "Sustainable streetlighting", is part of Greenpeace's "safe city" campaign that proposes solar LED streetlighting to check crime against women and promote clean energy options.

There are more than five lakh streetlights in Delhi. Dark spots are caused either due to a lack of street lights in a particular area or glitches in the existing ones including non-functioning bulbs, problem in power supply, heating up of the high pressure sodium vapour (HPSV) lamps, among others.

The report recommends that funds be sourced from various heads in the Union Budget 2014. It says funds can be collected from power reforms, Nirbhaya fund - which has about Rs 1,000 crore, women and child development, safety for women in public transport that has about Rs 50 crore, etc.

The report says CCTVs can, at best, help capture crime scenes, whereas the aim should be reduction in crime statistics and improvement in safety on roads and public spaces.

This can "only be achieved through proper illumination of all the dark spots with efficient utilization of sustainable power...power purchase costs are escalating, no efficient or standardized monitoring techniques are available and various issues have mushroomed to hamper efficient working of discoms of Delhi.The only feasible solution can be looking at the sun for energy and completely taking streetlights off the grid".

Solar streetlights consume 146kwh compared to conventional HPSV lamps that consume 332.15kwh.

Pujarini Sen, Greenpeace's climate and energy campaigner, said, "Implementing solar streetlight systems in all of the 700 dark spots will cost the government less than Rs 10 crore. In addition, the programme will help meet Delhi's renewable purchase obligation target by over 6 per cent.".

According to the environmental NGO, it had submitted its report to Delhi Dialogue Commission on April 27. On April 9, ministry of home affairs had suspended Greenpeace India's registration for violating FCRA norms and blocked its national accounts because of which it couldn't release the report.

However, after the recent relief by the high court allowing Greenpeace India to use its fund, the NGO has urged the Delhi government to implement these recommendations.